Saturday, February 20, 2010

I don't know if I have posted any pictures of our dog, RJ. He is a chocolate lab and is huge. If he stands up he is taller than me, I know thats not saying much but he really is huge for a lab. RJ was Andy's dog and lived at his parents house until we got married. After we got married, we moved RJ to our house. It was a tough transition at first, he chewed on the bottom of our fence just after we had put it up. Andy had to replace the panels not once but twice. Since then we have gotten smarter and put a metal panel at the bottom, so he has yet to chew through that. RJ is a great dog, hardly barks, and is very calm. We have loved having him at our house. Our good friends, Nick and Brandi, went home for the weekend and asked if their dog Macy could stay with us. We said, of course! So RJ and Macy have become fast friends. She is also a chocolate lab but not as big as RJ. She has hurt her hip and has been limping around but so far she has been great! Here they are.
RJ

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

My neighbor and I decided we needed a hobby while our husbands watched sports. Whitney is very creative and full of great ideas! We brainstormed for a while and came up with the idea of painting canvases, frames, and corkboards. I was a little nervous because I am not artistic at all and I can't paint. Whitney assured me that I could do it, so I agreed to proceed. Whitney drew most of the designs off, I painted them, and she wrote the names. Our partnership works well! I am more anal retentive and she is laid back easy going. We decided to market teachers first since I am a teacher, we thought it would be a great idea to paint canvases for teachers with their names on them. We did mine first to see if it would spark the interest of my co-workers. Boy did it ever!! We started painting last fall and did several teacher orders, we were so excited!! I don't think we realized how big of a hit it would be. We have since done orders for other items that aren't related to teacher names. All canvases come with a ribbon that matches the colors of the canvas. We have made canvases with kids' names and a fun design, painted a razorback canvas (SUPER CUTE), and some fun frames. I will post some pictures of what we have made thus far. IF you are interested in any of these designs let me know!!

We have received more snow in NWA. This is the first winter in a long time where we have had snow every week. Since January I have not been in school for an entire week, its crazy!! We didn't get as much snow in NWA as Little Rock but we got enough to be out of school again today!! I am not complaining, however it is really going to stink going into the middle of June. I haven't decided if I want to be productive today. I have several things I could do..clean the house, laundry, work on progress reports, lesson plans, etc. I don't think I am going to do any of that instead I'm going to read a good book. I have been reading so many books lately, and I'm not a big reader. Just recently I have read Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I borrowed the book from a co-worker on Friday and read the entire book that night. I was determined to read the book before I saw the movie. I have yet to see the movie but am planning on it soon! I have also started another book by him, The Choice. It is very good as well. So...my day is going to consist of finishing that book and watching my recorded shows of Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, and the Bachelor. Today is also a very special day for my dad...Its his BIRTHDAY!!

Monday, February 1, 2010

I have always liked to decorate but never really had anything to decorate. THAT has all changed now that I have my own house. I never really felt that I was good at decorating but have always liked doing it. Over Christmas break I got together with my aunt, grandmother, and mother for their help on my house. They all have an eye for decorating and taught me a lot. I have several projects that I have been working on. As much as I would like to take the credit for these ideas I can't. Most of what you will see came from someone else and I just tweeked it to fit our house. Have you ever had trouble finding pictures to hang? I definitely had that problem. I came across a picture in a store (Glo) that I fell in love with. I asked where they got it, and they said they made it. It was fabric covered over a canvas. I thought that was a GENIUS idea! So I implemented that into my house in several places. Below you will see a 3 fabric canvas hanging and a 6 fabric canvas hanging. I bought the fabric and stapled it to the canvas. You can buy the canvases already made at Hobby Lobby (which is more expensive) or you can buy the wood frame and glue it together and you don't even need the canvas part (much cheaper) also at Hobby Lobby.

Do you hate those wall mirrors in your bathroom? Well I have an idea for you! How about leaning a framed mirror against the wall mirror. I did this in our master bathroom. I also mounted a framed mirror onto the wall mirror in our guest bathroom. So easy and unique.

I was a little nervous about this change but so excited! We decided to paint stripes on one wall in our guest bedroom. My husband is very handy and measured the stripes out perfectly on our wall. We painted them 2 different shades of green. We wanted something different and fun in this room, I think the stripes did just that.

Do you hate how your shower curtain looks so bare? I don't like seeing the rod or the hooks. My aunt is so creative and came up with this idea to make a curtain top to go over it. She did it in her bathroom and it looked awesome. She used 3 different prints whereas I only have 2 different prints. The brown solid is actually a shower curtain and the top is the curtain that she made for me. It makes the shower curtain look so much better and taller. I love this!

Since I have been cooped up in the house for the past 3 days, I decided I would bake. I know what your thinking...Hayley Bake? Over the Christmas break I found that I really do like to bake and cook if I have the time. Usually when I get home from school I don't want to do either. I have found some new recipes that I have enjoyed and wanted to share them with you. The first recipe is for cookies. It is by far my favorite cookie. What better ingredients than peanut butter and chocolate chips? They are so yummy! The next recipe was given to me by a friend in our community group ( Elizabeth Ray). I'm not a huge chocolate lover but this pound cake is divine. I have made it A LOT!! Everyone always loves it and wants the recipe. The final recipe is a quick and easy fix. It is my mom's recipe and she has made it ever since I was little. It has 5 ingredients and thats it. I hope you enjoy what I have been enjoying!

Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 4 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box instant chocolate pudding

1/2 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of water

4 eggs

8 oz. light sour cream

1 bag of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all dry ingredients together. Beat oil, water, and eggs by hand. Add sour cream. Combine with dry ingredients (a little at a time). After everything is mixed together, fold in the chocolate chips. Grease a bundt pan and pour in batter. Bake for 1 hour or until done. Let cool and flip.

Dump Cake

1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz)

1 can cherry pie filling (20 oz)

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

2 sticks of butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease 9X13 inch pan. Dump in pineapple, including juice. Add cherry pie filling on top of pineapple and spread over bottom of pan. Pour dry cake mix over cherries and pineapple and spread smoothly. Sprinkle with nuts. Cut butter into squares and place evenly over the top. Bake for 1 hour.

Why do I love Northwest Arkansas? The weather is so unpredictable. One day it is in the 60s and the next it is in the 30s snowing. It is crazy!! But as a teacher I can't complain. We have been out of school for a week in early January and 2 days this time. Right now I love the snow days, come June I will be hating them. We have used all of our snow days so as of now we will be going through the first week of June. Hopefully that will not change. One reason I love snow days is because it is so nice to be able to sit by the fireplace and read a great book. I have read several books thanks to my favorite neighbor, Whitney. She suggested I read Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, and Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. I'm not a huge reader so I was a little skeptical at first. She promised me they would be good and I wouldn't be able to put them down and she was right. They were great! If you haven't read them, it is a must! Another reason why I love snow days is the SLEDDING! We went sledding on Saturday with some friends and had a blast. My neighbor Whitney is from Lewisville (down South) and had never been sledding before. We took her out and she had a ball! Below are some pictures from our sledding extravaganza.

About Me

I'm Hayley. I have lived in Northwest Arkansas my entire life. I am a 3rd grade teacher at John Tyson Elementary in Springdale. I recently married my best friend, Andy Pruitt. We met at one of my friends wedding. We dated for a year were engaged for a year and we have almost been married for a year. Marriage is awesome! He is a wonderful Christan man who loves God wholeheartedly. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. He is a civil engineer for Garver Engineers in Fayetteville. We bought a house in Fayetteville and have one dog, RJ. Life is good!!